Beat As One
by healerkou
Summary: We all know Plasmius is manipulative, but when he turns Sam against Danny, it might be the one thing Danny can't handle. Chapter 4 now up.
1. Chapter 1

BEAT AS ONE  
By: Cristi Muth

_Danny Phantom is owned by Butch Hartman and Nichelodeon. I am just playing with them and causing them great angst._

* * *

"Sam, I'm so sorry..." 

Danny Fenton was sitting on his knees in the mud as rain poured down on him for the third Saturday in a row. His head hung limply, as if he no longer had the strength to support it. Warm Spring rain had matted his jet black hair to his forehead and dripped down from his bangs onto his nose and chin. His tears mixed perfectly with the rain, so that he could not tell which was which.

He couldn't believe it had already been three weeks. But, of course, it had happened just a week before graduation. A graduation that Danny had not attended, because he couldn't bring himself to go through it without her. They were both supposed to walk across that stage, and then throw their caps in the air. Then they were both supposed to take a trip to Europe with Tucker, and then start attending college together while Tucker went to a local tech school. It had all been planned out, from start to finish. But in one moment it had all drastically changed.

Danny lifted his head a bit and blinked water out of his eyes. He took in the cold gray slab of marble in front of him, and silently cursed it. It was brand new, the grooves of the chiseled words so deep that water was draining in and out of the letters as the rain continued to fall.

_Samantha Manson  
1991 - 2008  
Beloved daughter and friend to many.  
Forever on our minds, and in our hearts._

The words on the stone were so final. They said so much. A young woman, barely into her prime, was taken away from parents and friends who loved her. What the stone didn't explain, however, is how or why.

Or whose fault it was that Samantha Manson was no longer with them.

Danny's tears began to ebb as he remembered that day. His sadness, pain, and loss over Sam were forces to be reckoned with, but they were nothing compared to his anger.

As the events of that day started to come back to him, Danny found himself gritting his teeth, and his baby blue eyes began to glow bright green.

* * *

The girl had been unconscious for weeks. Plasmius knew this, because he had watched over her, diligently. Normally, one would wonder at this show of compassion. But for Plasmius, it was all part of a grander plan. A plan that was sure to be foolproof. 

About three weeks into it, the girl moaned and opened her eyes for the first time.

All around her was a great green void. Swirling mists of God-knows-what, and ghosts floating around, just surviving (if that's what ghosts even do.)

"Good morning, as it were." Plasmius commented, causing the girl to turn her head a little too sharply and cry out in pain.

"Take it easy," he said, approaching her. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Yeah, right," the girl croaked. Her voice was thick from not being used. She wondered for how long.

"About three weeks," Plasmius said, as if reading her mind, "You've been with us about three weeks now."

"Where am I?" She demanded, her voice becoming a bit stronger.

Plasmius gave a hearty laugh and said, "Where do you think? You're where everyone with unfinished business goes when they die."

"When they...die?" The girl repeated the statement, staring blankly at the familiar ghost.

"Yes, when they die. And you do remember how you got here, don't you? Why, I believe it had something to do with your good friend, Daniel."

The girl's head finally started to clear, and some memories were coming back. A flash of green light, a boy with white hair, a fight...struggling. Then a moment of brief pain, and nothing.

Plasmius watched the wheels turning in her head and smiled to himself. He sat down next to her and put an arm around her. She was too shocked to recoil from his touch.

"Sam, was it?"

The girl nodded.

"Well, Sam, I think it's about time you and I had a little talk..."

* * *

_To Be Continued! And I promise I'll continue this one starting tomorrow, because I can see this being a big deal story for me. Way bigger than the other one I'm workong on. Reviews are welcome!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Sorry for the shortness, I had more to say but got interrupted. The plot thickens later on today or tomorrow._

_Again, I don't own Danny Phantom. Boo._

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THREE WEEKS EARLIER...

"Hello, Daniel," Vlad Masters said with a smirk, sashaying his way into the Fenton's home. Danny glared at him.

"What are you doing here, Vlad?" Danny demanded, putting himself between Masters and the rest of the house. The white-haired billionaire continued to grin.

"Oh, the usual," He answered with an air of nonchalance. "I'm just here to start the wheels turning of my master plan to steal all of your father's inventions and destroy his credibility while also destroying you in the process."

Danny blinked at him for a moment and then yelled, "Stop actually telling me what your plan is! It pisses me off!"

"I know that, Daniel. Why do you think I do it? It 'pisses you off' because you know that I consider you no threat."

"Hey, V-man!" Jack Fenton bellowed, walking into the room and spotting his old friend.

At the same time, Sam arrived at the front door to meet Danny for their dinner date. He was supposed to be taking her out, but when she saw Vlad she immediately said, "Danny, we can put this off if you want. I can see that you have...company." She shot Vlad a knowing glare. He smiled at her.

Hearing her husband's extremely loud voice talking excitedly to Vlad about their latest ghost hunting inventions prompted Maddie Fenton into the room, who upon seeing Sam exclaimed, "Hi, Sam! This is great, everyone can stay for dinner! It'll be like a double date! Me and Jack, Danny and Sam, and...well, Vlad."

Vlad's expression grew grim at that comment, and Danny could barely contain his laughter at his enemy's expense.

"Daniel, why don't you join me for a walk down to the park?" Vlad said, pasting a sugary sweet expression on his face.

"Sure, Vlad," Danny said, staring down the other half-ghost. "I'd love to."

"Not without me, you're not," Sam said, grabbing Danny's arm. Even back when they were just friends she was very protective of him. Even though he had the power to take care of himself, she had a certain need to be there for him, and she knew he needed that from her. After all, it would be a lonely life without someone who cared about your well-being. But, now that they had been dating for over two years, sometimes she couldn't stand it when he flew off into danger. And right at that moment, she had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach that something bad was going to happen to Danny if she wasn't there to protect him. Call it woman's intuition.

"Sam, I'll be OK," Danny said, even though he knew it was an argument he wouldn't win. He loved that about Sam. When she put her mind to something, she wouldn't waiver.

The two teenagers and the middle-aged billionaire left the Fenton home, assuring Jack and Maddie they would be back in plenty of time for dinner.

"All right, what's the point?" Danny asked of Vlad, just as soon as they were out of ear-shot of the house.

"The point? Son, the point was to get you away from the safety of your parents' home so that I could try my new invention out on you!"

Without another word, Vlad was on Danny before he or Sam could do anything. Danny began fighting him off as he changed into ghost form, and Vlad did the same.

"I hope you can do better than this, Plasmius!" Danny Phantom shouted at the other ghost. They were in a purely physical struggle, neither of them had used their powers against the other yet. Danny found himself wondering what the true point of it all was. Suddenly showing up at the Fentons', openly stating some obvious and cliché plan for world domination or whatever, then asking Danny to go for a walk just to brawl with him? It didn't add up.


	3. Chapter 3

_One again, don't own Danny Phantom blah blah blah. I finally got to finish what I wanted to say in Chapter 2. Thanks for all the kind reviews, and sorry if I didn't get Sam's age exactly right on the tombstone. I'm bad at math. Plus I was 17 when I graduated, so I figured Sam could be, too. This is my skewed logic. Anyway, I'm glad people are enjoying this and putting faith in it...I promise if you stick around until the end, you won't be sorry. If you think THIS part is jacked up, you ain't seen nothin' yet._

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Danny seemed to be doing fairly well, when suddenly Plasmius stopped, grinned, and shoved him hard onto the ground. The older man had just been toying with him.

"And now, Danny, my point!" With that, Plasmius produced a rather large syringe from inside his cape and quickly jammed it into Danny's left arm. Danny winced and yelled out in pain.

"Danny!" Sam cried, running over to him.

"Sam, stop! Get away!" Danny called to her, but it was no use. Within mere seconds, the formula Plasmius had injected him with began to do its dirty work.

Plasmius turned back into Vlad and stood a safe distance away to enjoy the show.

Danny tried desperately to turn back into his human form, but found he couldn't. That was obviously an effect from whatever Vlad had injected him with, but something told him that wasn't the main purpose.

With Sam crouching down next to him and lifting his head onto her lap, Danny suddenly realized what was happening to him.

Before Sam's eyes, Danny had begun to twitch and spasm. His whole body shook with pain, and his eyes were squeezed shut tightly. Through gritted teeth, he moaned, "Get away…please…get away…" But Sam wouldn't listen. She shook her head, savagely.

"I won't leave you!" She yelled down at him, barely controlling her tears. From his place several hundred feet away, Vlad smirked. He didn't think the girl would leave her suffering boyfriend. After all, she never had before.

"But…Sam…" Danny struggled, but he found he could no longer speak. The pain was too great.

And then it happened.

Without his consent, and unable to control them, Danny's eyes flew open and green bolts of ghostly energy shot out, right at Sam. Using one's eyes as weapons was something Danny had seen Vlad do on occasion, but he had never done it himself.

And now he had no choice but to use it against the woman he loved.

Sam was struck once in the forehead, her bangs being burned from her scalp. The blast was enough to knock her back away from Danny. Danny crawled to his knees and tried to close his eyes, but he couldn't do it, nor could he see where he was going.

He had ended up facing Sam again, and as she struggled back into a sitting position, another blast caught her directly in the chest.

At that moment, Danny's vision cleared. The effects of Vlad's serum were extremely short lived, but it had never mattered. Vlad knew it would do what it was meant to do.

Sam lay lifelessly on the ground. Her violet eyes wide with shock and fear.

Danny crawled over to her body, shaking all over. Two familiar rings of light appeared around him, and he knew he was changing back into his human form. The serum had definitely worn off, but the damage was done.

Sam was dead.

Danny had killed her.


	4. Chapter 4

PRESENT DAY IN THE GHOST ZONE...

Plasmius finished recounting his own version of the tale of Sam's demise to her, and waited patiently for her to speak. Of course, he had omitted the part about injecting Danny with a brilliant little formula he had invented that could throw any ghost's powers out of control for one minute. Better that she not remember that part. Better just to let her think that her precious Danny had gone berserk and killed her in a rage.

And when the much stronger version of his "Overload" serum was perfected, it would be the perfect tool to destroy the Fenton boy. With all the damage he would do, he would surely kill dozens of people. And with the inability to transform back into his human body, he would not be able to go home.

Finally, Sam spoke. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"I don't understand. Danny would never hurt me."

"Dear Samantha," Plasmius cooed, using her full name to get her attention. "I'm not saying it was intentional, but it did happen. It was his fault, and you're here with me because of it. And if you ever want to move on from the Ghost Zone, you have to get your revenge on him. Then your business on Earth will be finished, and your spirit will be free."

Sam could barely believe what she was hearing. She shook her head in denial. "No, you're wrong! I don't want revenge on Danny!" She closed her eyes tightly and muttered, "There's something else. Oooooh, why can't I remember?"

Plasmius was well aware that, under normal circumstances, the girl would begin regaining her memory before too long. He quietly and casually got up and moved around behind her, where he took a syringe out of his pocket and stuck the back of her neck with it.

Sam flinched and moved a hand up to her neck. "Ow! Something just pinched me!"

The white-clad ghost grinned at Sam, "Nonsense, it must be your imagination. Now, what were you saying just now?"

For a moment, Sam just looked at him blankly. Plasmius' smile grew wider.

Finally, she said, "I...don't remember."

Another success, Plasmius mused. With frequent injections of his "Memory Blank" formula, Sam would never be able to remember that she wasn't stuck in the Ghost Zone because she wanted revenge on Danny. She was surely stuck there because she wanted revenge on him.

But with no memory, and no where else to turn, she would have no choice but to believe everything Plasmius told her.

* * *

_Yes, yes, I know it's a lame joke to make Plasmius' formula the same name of an episode of the show. Screw you for judging me! More to come, hopefully with longer chapters. The set-up in finally done, so the angst can officially begin._


End file.
